Improvement in operating ordnance



. 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. E. A. STEVENS.

, Loading Ordnance.- No. 37 364. Patented Jan. 6, 1863.

wltnesses Inventor NFETERS. PHOTOMTMuGRAPMER, WASHING ON. D 04 v Zl Sheets-Sheet 2 E. A. STEVENS. Loading Ordnance.

- Patented Jan. 6, 1863.

lr nventur. 57%;;

N, PETERS, PHOTO-L THOGRAP strain STATES PATENT 5 FFIQEQ EDWIN A. srnvnnsor HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 3 736i, dated January 6, 1863.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN A. STEVENS, o Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New J ersey have invented certain new and useful Improvements in \Vorking the Guns of War-Vessels and other Ordnance; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,

. and exact description of the same, reference ibeing had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which v Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of aportion of a vessel of war, taken through the gun andthe apparatus for working the same.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe gun and the apparatus for working it. Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively a longitudinal and a transverse section of a gun and its carriage,

illustrating a different manner of arranging the recoil and counter-recoil springs, as here inafter described.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre+ sponding parts in the several figures. My improvement consists, first, in arranging and working the guns of war-vessels and other ordnance, so as to protect the gunners and ,:machinery by which they are operated from ;an enemys shot and shells, by depressing the ,muzzles of the guns so that they will point into one or more holes in the deck of a vessel, or into a shot-proof casemate' of any kind, through which holes the guns can be loaded by manual or steam power situated below the said deck or casemate, and in some cases of .vessels below the level of the water. The :holes in a vessels deckjthrough which the guns are loaded, would be protected from shot .to some extent by shot-proof hoods, and fromj v the entrance of water, if the deck, should be below the level of the water, byicombings '=.which mightbe shot-proof. In order that the guns may be so worked, their recoil is taken 'iupby an elastic material in such a manner ithatthey may be turned or trained by pintles gunwithout motion, or between the carriage and some fixed part of the vessel or fort, or other structure, on or in which the gun is used in such a manner that the carriage may be turned by a pintle that will not recoil with the gun, so that the gun may have the necessary-recoil within the space thus allowed without injuring the vessel or deranging the carriage or other machinery. I also place springs in frontof the gun or carriage in like manner, so as to take up the reaction of the gun when it is driven forward by the recoil of the first named springs. Myimprovements further consist in loading and sponging guns by steam or other mechanical power, The apparatus I prefer for this purpose is as follows: The guns being depressed so as to be loaded through apertures, as hereinbefore described, I use for a rammer the piston-rod of a steam-cylinder situated be-'. low the deck or within the casemate opposite to and in line with the gun when depressed. The motion of the steam piston-rod out of the cylinder will swab the gun and then rain the charge home, after which the gun may be elevated and fired. The motion of the piston is regulatedby steam and exhaust valves or cocks, either by hand or automaticallyj In connection with this piston-rod so used, I employ a scoop like device for receiving the cartridge and ball, and so presenting them between the rammer and the muzzle of the gun that they may be driven into the gun by the advance of the rammer. This device is operated by a separate steam-piston, or may be operated by hand, or by a connection with the piston-rod ,or rammer, or by other mechanical power. The'rammer may have a swab permanently attached; or the swab may be made separate with some means of attaching or detaching it quickly. I also employ in some cases, in connection with loading a gun, an apparatus for injecting water into the bore of the gun, principally for the purpose of cooling it. The peculiar importance of this apparatus in connection with this rapid firing is that the gun may not become so highly heated as to ignite the powder, or so much strained by excessive expansion of its inner parts by heat as to become sensibly weakened. In many cases a few .rounds fired with unusually great rapidity would belikely to win an action without injuriously heating the gun; With the cooling apparatus, however, the rapid firing might be continued for hours or days without interruption. This inj ection' of water would also clean the gun and extinguish any fire that might re main in it after discharge.

This apparatus may be of various kinds, of which I will explain three.

First. A small cylinder arranged side by side with the loading-cylinder, and having a suction or induction pipe attached, may be fitted with a piston fitted wit-l1 a hollow rod,

' which connects with a passage provided in the rammer, such rod constituting the dischargepipe, and the piston and induction-pipe being furnished with valves, so that the water-piston being moved by and with the steam-piston will cause the water to be drawn into the watcr-eylinder during the forward movement of the rammer into the gun and cause such water to be injected into the bore as the rainmer is withdrawn.

Second. There may be provided, in convenient proximity to the loading-cylinder, a close reservoir of water, which is keptconstantly under a high pressure by means of compressed air or by means of steam-pressure, and a pipe leading from this reservoir to a water-cylinder, applied as before described; but instead of being fitted with a piston having merely a hollow rod or pipe through a stuifing-box in its head and connected with the passage in the rammer-head, a valve or cook between the reservoir and cylinder is opened at the proper time for the injection of water into the gun either by hand or by the loading-engine or machinery. I propose,when required, to connect the cock or valve for admitting water into the water-cylinder, with the scoop before mentioned for conveying the charge to a position between the rammer and the gun, so that it would be opened by the act of removing said scoop from the muzzle and closed by the act of returning it.

Third. There may be arranged, in connec-' tion with such a reservoir as above mentioned, a pipe fitted with a cock whose nozzle is at tached to and turns with the plug, being arranged to be so operated upon the rammer that by the act of withdrawing the latter after swabbing the gun the nozzle may be moved to a position to point into the muzzle of the gun, and by such movementthe cock maybe opened, and that by the advance of the rammer the nozzle may be moved aside, and by such movement the cock may be closed.

In order that my invention may be more fully and exactly understood, I will proceed to describe the accompanying drawings,which illustrate one manner of carrying it into effect.

A may represent the upper deck, and B a lower deck, of a gunboat or other vessel.

0 is a cannon, supported by trunnions 0 upon a carriage, D, adapted to be turned on its axis by a pintle, E, turning on fixed bearings e e, and protected from the effect of the recoil and counter-recoil of the gun by springs ar .ranged in any suitable manner. The drawings illustrate three. different ways of applying the recoil and counter-recoil springs.

In Fig. 1 F is an annular guide, adapted to turn within a circular way, f. G is a rigid bar or plate projecting downward from the carriage D, between springs II H, of indiarubber or other material, which may be held in position by rods h, and serve to retain the carriage in a central position above the guide F, but permit such motion as is necessary in order to take up the recoil and counter-recoil without violence. The pintle E is formed with a forked head, a, which clasps a rigid plate, 9, which projects downward from the center of the carriage somewhat lower than the bar G. The bar G and plate 9 mutually brace and strengthen each other. The latter is the means by which the pintle communicates a rotary motion to the gun-carriage, and, being in a plane with the axis of the gun, the motion of carriage, by the recoil and counter-recoil of the gun, will slide the said plate within the forked head 0 without any strain upon the pintle.

In Fig. 2 the piutle 1D is rigidly connected to the carriage, the trunnions 0 having their bearings in blocks 0, which slide in suitable cavities or slots in the carriage, within which cavities the recoil-springs H and counter-recoil springs H are placed behind and in front of the blocks 0.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the carriage D is formed with downwardlyprojecting flanges d d, between which are secured rigid guide-rods h h. The said guide-rods slip freely through the head a of the pintle as the gun recoils, and through the recoil-springs II and counter-recoil springs H, placed upon the guiderods between the pintle-head e and flanges d d.

I do not restrict myself to the use of any specific material for the recoil and counterrecoil springs, nor to the specific arrangement thereof which has been described.

The apparatus for loading, ramming, and swabbing the gun may be constructed and arranged as follows:

I 'is a shot-proof hood, to which the gun may be presented, as shown in Fig. 1, so as to give access to the muzzle from below the deck.

J is a steam-cylinder secured in such a position as to be exactly in line with the bore of the gun when the latter is thus presented to the hood.

K is a piston, the rod It of which works through a stuffing-box, 7c, and carries at its upper end a combined rammer and sponge, L.

j is a second cylinder of smaller diameter, secured above the cylinder J in a position exactly parallel therewith.

K is a hollow piston-rod working within the cylinder j and passing through the rammer-head L, from which it receives its motion. Steam may be admitted to the cylinder J through pipes M, and exhausted through pipes in in any suitable manner.

N is a water-pipe guarded by a valve, a, and cocks at a, and communicating from the external water to the lower end of the cylinder 9'.

O is a ladle pivoted at o, and employed to elevate the cartridge and projectile to a position between the rammer and muzzle, as shown in Fig. l. The said ladle is operated by a steam-engine, P. The cartridges may be placed upon an inclined table of any suitable construction, from which they will be successively supplied to the ladle by their own gravity, or they be placed upon the ladle by hand.

Q is an arm projecting from the rear end of the ladle and carrying a rod, g, which is connected at its other end to a lever, q, by which the cook a is opened and closed.

The operation is as follows: The charge, being elevated by the ladle O to the right position, steam is let into the lower end of the cylinder J ,which steam, acting upon the piston K, and thereby upon the rammer L, forces the charge to its position in the breech of the gun, after which the rammer is withdrawn. The cock at having been closed by the'elevation of the ladle, no water will flow into the cylinder as the piston is is drawn outward. The gun having been fired and returned to the position shown in order to receive a newcharge, the rammer and sponge L is advanced in the manner before explained to swab the gun. The cock n being now open, water fills the cylinder j, beneath the piston attached to the rod 10 and as the sponge 'L is withdrawn the valve n closes, and the water within the cylinder j is forced through the tube is and sponge and delivered Within the bore on all parts of its surface, thereby cooling the gun and extinguishing any fire which may remain. A relief-cock, WV, may be placed in the end of the water-cylinder j and worked, either by hand or automatically, to let out the water and stop its injection into the gun at any desired point of the stroke.

The water-pipe N may be closed by hand by the cock h", if at any time it be desired to operate the rammer L, while the ladle is down, without injecting water into the gun.

The rotation of the pintle for the purpose of training the gun may be effected through the medium of a gear-wheel, R, or by other suitable means.

The gun may be brought to its position for receiving the shot by a chain Iastened to the chase of the gun and passing below deck to a wheel and axle, X, or by any other suitable means. These and other necessary parts of the apparatus, not herein specifically described, may be constructed in any suitable manner.

Having thus described my invention, Iwish it to be distinctly understood that I do not restrict myself to the precise arrangement and details specified, but propose to vary the same in any manner which may be found desirable without departing from the essential principles of the invention.

What I claim as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. So depressing the muzzle of a gun that it may be loaded from beneath the plane on which it is placed through an aperture, I, in the floor or deck, in the manner and for the purpose substantially as set forth.

2. The use of a steam-cylinder, J, for loading and sponging a gun, substantially as described.

3. The employment, in combination with a rammer, L, operated by steam-power, [of a mechanical contrivance, O 0, substantially as described, for raising the charge and presenting it between the rammer and the muzzle of the gun.

4. The use of a steam-cylinder for elevating the charge, substantially in the manner explained.

5. The employment, in combination with means for loading a gun by steam-power, of means for injecting water into the bore, substantially as described.

E. A. STEVENS.

Witnesses:

A. L. HoLLEY, EDM...F. BROWN. 

